Monday, October 11, 2010

Banging the back door

It was about 1:30 this morning when I heard the banging on the door. It woke me up from a good sleep. I sat up dazed, wondering if that was part of a dream or if it was real.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang

WTF! Damn tenants. Did they lock themselves out?

I then began to think about who would be wanting anyone's attention at 1:30 in the morning. Could it be an emergency? I checked my phone to see if I had missed any messages. None.

I then heard the person try the upstairs doorbell. I figured that it must be for them now. I took a look outside the window and saw a car parked on the street with its lights on. I couldn't really make out much on the car but figured it wasn't anyone that I knew. Still, I figured I should throw some clothes on and check it out.

I thought about grabbing a weapon. A small Milwaukee Brewers souvenir bat was on the shelf. It would do the job if needed. But then I left it there. The back door has a window. I didn't need to open the door if some madman was on the other side.

But whoever it was had stopped banging on the door. They got in the car and began to drive away. I watched them go slowly around the corner and pull in front of the house. Then a light came shining up. That was when I noticed the decal on the car and flipped on the living room lights.

It was the police.

A quick thought of why they would be banging on my door raced in my mind. Was there some emergency news about family or friends? No. I would have had a phone call it there was. Maybe it was for the tenants after all. But I noticed I hadn't hear any noises from upstairs during this time.

I popped on the porch light and went outside to talk to the officer. She was an older woman. She told me was about to leave me a message on the door that my garage door was open. Really? I left the garage door open. I thanked her for letting me know. She made the comment that there have been a lot of burglaries in the area and that I should make sure I keep the door closed. I thanked her again and went to close the door.

Before I did, the comment about theft in the area rang in my mind. I better take a look and make sure nothing is gone. It would suck to go out for work the next morning and see only one vehicle in my garage. They were both there. I did a quick look and nothing appeared to be out of place. I don't keep much of value in the garage besides the two cars. The mower had been moved to the shed. The only thing of value in there might be a battery charger. Now that I think about it, I didn't look to see if it was there. I will have to do it later.

As I walked back to the house, I noticed the tenants car was not on the street. I guess they weren't home. That would explain why they didn't respond to the door bell. About an hour later, I would hear some footsteps upstairs (hell, I was wide awake after the cop made that much noise) and wonder if someone was home or if maybe I have ghost activity.

1 comment:

I'm always amazed by how many of my neighbors leave their garage doors open all night. Even thought the garages, for the most part, are set back from the road. People can still get to them easy enough.